Motorola and LG Show Off New Android Wear Smartwatches

The Moto 360 is the first in a series of devices running Google's Android Wear software.

The Moto 360 is the first in a series of devices running Google's Android Wear software.

Today, Motorola and LG unveiled smartwatches running Google’s new Android Wear software designed to get Android on fitness bands, smartwatches, and other wearable devices. LG’s G Watch and Motorola’s Moto 360 are powered by Android Wear, and would make Apple a little jealous.

The underlying software, Android Wear, is designed for use on wearable devices like fitness bands and smartwatches to make integration with Android smartphones easier. Essentially, it’s Android for your wrist, and both Motorola and LG are the first manufacturers out of the gate with pretty compelling devices.

While LG’s device, the G Watch, is running Android Wear, it looks like your classic smartwatch. It’s a square-screened display that lets you use many Google Now services that let you send texts, see traffic updates, and pull up search results.

Motorola’s device, on the other hand, takes a pretty sharp departure from the flattened blocks that are usually the domain of the smartwatch. It’s round, like a traditional timepiece, an engineering challenge according to Motorola.

Google’s wearable device SDK was announced at SXSW by Sundar Pichai, Google’s SVP of Android and Chrome, who didn’t provide much detail on what kind of devices we’d see in the near future. Obviously this is only a sign of things to come.

As for release dates, the Moto 360 is set for release summer 2014, while the G Watch is set to arrive around the second quarter of this year, according to Engadget.